Foot-rest for chairs.



No. 803,841. PATENTED OCT 31, 1905. W. L. HOFFMAN.

FOOT BEST FOR CHAIRS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.'11,1905.

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WILLIS L. HOFFMAN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

FOOT-REST FOR CHAIRS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Application filed April 11. 1905. Serial No, 254,907.

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIS L. HOFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey (lity, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented anew and Improved Foot-Rest for Chairs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to attachments for chairs, the object being to provide a device which may be conveniently applied to a chair so as to constitute a foot-rest.

A further object of the invention is to produceadevice of this class which may be easily folded into a substantially concealed position when not in use.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and definitely set forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, formingapartof this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing my attachment applied to a chair of common form and representing the attachment in a folded position in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the chair as shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a plan of the attachment and a portion of the seat of the chair, a portion of the said seat being broken away and represented in dotted outline, as will appear.

Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 represents a chair of any common construction, having a seat 2 with a projecting forward edge 3.

My attachment 4 comprises a cylindrical bar or bolster 5, preferably formed of wood and having bores 6 in the extremity thereof, as indicated, for a purpose which will appear more fully hereinafter. This bolster 5 is rigidly attached to the extremity of a frame 7, the form of which is very clearly shown in Fig. 3. This frame is preferably formed of a metal bar bent to form oppositely-disposed arms 8, which diverge in the direction of the chair, as indicated.

In order to attach the bolster to this frame 7, I prefer to provide adjacent openings 9 in the middle portion of the bolster, through which the arms 8 are thrust before bending the same outwardly, as will be readily understood. The extremities of the arms 8 are bent laterally to form spurs 10, which are received in eyes 11, attached to the under side of the projecting edge 3, as shown. These eyes are preferably attached to the extremities of a connecting-bar 12 and are formed so that they may be quickly attached by means of screws 13 or simple fastening devices, as indicated in Fig. 2.

The purpose of the connecting-bar 12 is to facilitate the proper positioning of the eyes when the same are attached. In this connection it should be understood that the arms 8 are resilient, and when it is desired to disconnect the frame they may be pressed inwardly, so as to disconnect the spurs 10 in a manner which will be described more fully hereinafter.

To the bolster 5 I attach a leg-frame 14:, which consists of a bar bent as shown, so as to present substantially three sides of a rectangle. Thus a substantially horizontal portion 15 is formed which is adapted to rest upon the floor and constitute a foot, and this member is integral with upwardly-extended arms 16, which are offset outwardly at their upper extremities, as indicated, and terminate in inwardly-projecting gudgeons 17, which are received loosely in the aforesaid bores 6. At the point where the arms 16 are offset, as suggested above, shoulders 18 are formed. The purpose of these shoulders is to enable the attachment to maintain itself in an upward position. For this purpose at suitable points the bolster 5 is provided with outwardly-projecting studs or stop-pins 19, which are adapted to engage the shoulders 18, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. When the spurs engage the shoulders, the leg-frame will be disposed in a substantially upright position inclining upwardly in the direction of the chair, as illustrated. From this arrangement when the weight is applied at the bolster the stop-pins 19 prevent the attachment from collapsing, so that it constitutes a substantial foot-rest for a person seated in the chair.

The attachment is expected to be useful for many connections. It affords a support for the feet while a person sitting in the chair is reading, and it also affords a convenient rest for blacking shoes, tying shoe-laces, &c.

hen the attachment is not being used as a foot-rest, it may be folded down at the front of the chair, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. In folding the attachment as suggested the lower extremity of the leg-frame 14 will be folded upwardly in the direction of the chair until it comes against the frame 7, whereupon the frame 7, together with the leg-frame, will be allowed to depend from the eyes 11, as illustrated.

If it is desired to disconnect the attachment entirely from the chair, this may be done, as suggested above, by pressing the arms 8 toward each other until the spurs 10 are disconnected from the eyes. Then the entire attachment, excepting the eyes 11 and the connecting-bar 12, can be removed and set in a convenient place. The increased usefulness of the chair due to the attachment does not detract from its general appearance.

Havingth us described my invention, Iclaim as new. and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. An attachment for a chair constituting a foot-rest and comprising in combination a frame, means for attaching the same near the forward edge of the chair, a bar attached to the extremity of said frame remote from said chair, a leg-frame engaging the extremities of said bar and adapted to support the'same, and studs projecting from said bar and engaging said leg-frame.

2. An attachment for a chair constituting a foot-rest and comprising in combination a frame, having resilient arms with laterallyprojecting spurs, eyes adapted to be attached to the chair and receiving said spurs, a bar carried by the extremity of said frame remote from said chair, and a leg-frame supporting said bar and adapted to rest upon the floor.

3. An attachment for a chair, constituting l a foot-rest and comprising a frame having l means for attaching the same to the forward edge of the chair, a bar attached to the extremity of said frame remote from said chair, said bar having bores in the extremities thereof, and a leg-frame engaging said bores rotatably, said bar having studs projecting therefrom and engaging said leg-frame to limit the movement thereof.

4. An attachment for a chair, constituting a foot-rest and comprising, in combination, a frame adapted to attach to the forward edge of the chair, a bar attached to the free extremity of said frame, a leg-frame having gudgeons pivotally engaging the extremities of saidbar and having offsets near said gudgeons, and studs carried by said bar and adapted to engage said offsets to limit the movement of said legframe.

5. An attachment for chairs, constituting a foot-rest and comprising, in combination, a transversely-disposed bar having openings near the middle thereof and adapted 'to be supported in a horizontal position, a frame passing through said openings and having means for attaching the same to the forward edge of a chair, and a leg-frame pivotally attached to said bar and supporting the same.

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIS L. HOFFMAN. Witnesses:

F. D. AMMEN, JNo. M. Emma. 

